PickNick Asteroid Hits Mooland
Little Nick's Big Adventure — Quest for Wisdom in the Realms
UPDATED: 2024-10-28 3002 WORDS
"Look Nick, it's okay, everything is just fine.
You're safe here. We'll help you."
Whatever that Swooshed and Crashed ¶
We begin at a time long long after the universe exploded into being. The primordial Mū had become the many, all planets were settled into their places, and life was thriving throughout the Inner Cookie Universe. Everything seemed to be perfectly normal, but a certain Mantisian high priestess in the Shrine of Farsight had been seeing eerie visions over the past fortnight.
Indeed something strange had been happening in the peculiar reaches of the outer inner space. There was a twin asteroid hurling through the galaxies on a point blank collision course with Mooland. And it was no ordinary asteroid — it was made of elemental silver and gold, the stuff of the high heavens, still in a mostly liquid state. It was in the process of crystallizing into a concrete creature. Or perhaps a pair of creatures, who knows what these sorts of things may turn into as they evolve.
BOOM! And so it landed. Right on the outskirts of western Highlands, not too far from Ammoolia's Cloud Orchards. It was late afternoon and Izzy and Manny were over for a visit, really looking for some herbs from her backyard for Manny's uncle who was struggling with recurring headaches. They rushed toward the general direction of the sound, unsure what exactly it might be that should result in such a terrible sound. There are only ever explosions like that when something goes wrong in the laboratories in the Industrial Complexes of the Alchemical Scientists at the Heatlands — or when one of the occult Boofalos at Strangelands is again mucking around with precious underground substances they don't quite understand or know how to handle safely.
But this was no explosion caused by anyone at Mooland. It was an asteroid from the far reaches of space that crashed on the Highlands turf with a loud bang. A dazed and confused creature crawled into the smooth Highlandian daylight from the collision crater. Izzy and Manny had never seen such a strange creature. "What are you? Are you okay?" — "I am a human. I think? Everything seems okay. But nothing feels okay. It's all spinning pretty hard right now. Where the heck am I?"
They had never even heard of beings called hoomans. After their epic adventure collecting the best stories from all of Mooland, in time distributed to all the other planets at the Doughlands planetary system, they had even been invited to visit and tour many of the neighboring planets. But never ever had they heard of a hooman being. What an odd creature. It was clearly sentient, but it was giving off vibes that were very different from any of the folks at Mooland. Maybe there are some moons on the other planets where these sorts of people live and understand each other. There was an aura of complexity hovering around him.
"It looks like you're not feeling very well, hooman. You must be very confused. We sure are. Let us take you to my grandma's place just nearby here, she can surely help you find your bearings again. She's helped us so many times." — "Yeah okay, whatever, sure thanks, I appreciate. I have no idea what in the weirdest of hells and heavens is going on here."
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Ammoolia was not anxious in the least with the ongoing commotion. She had parsed the signs in the clouds long before the Mantisian high priestess started tripping with her eerie visions at the distant Peaklands shrine, and had a very good idea of what's coming and how to handle it. She was rarely phased by anything at all.
"Ammy! There was a crash and a boom and there was a crater and out crawled this... hooman!! We brought him here because he seems very confused. Can you please help her."
The hooman was stunned at the sight of the elderly Moocow before him. She had a peculiar aura. But that didn't distract him from the one thought that had kept him preoccupied since the crash. His memories from before the crash were not very clear at all, only distant glimpses and feelings of what may have once been, quite abstract really, and definitely not enough to give him a context.
"Where is Pick? I am Nick! We were the PickNick Asteroid! I think? But now it's only me. I feel so lost and alone. Should I go to the hospital? Can I have some water please? And a bottle for Pick too. Where is Pick?!"
The fates of Mū would have it that Pick would be nicked, and Nick would be picked — to roam the realms of Mooland in search of his bearings and, maybe, eventual enlightenment. As to where Pick had been nicked, that's a story for another time. The liquid gold and silver forming our twined proto-asteroid crystallized into its final form upon crossing the lower atmosphere and shattered into two separate beings. Threads of unity, a sense of intertwined balance, lingered deep within them even in their separate embodiments.
"Look Nick, it's okay, everything is just fine. You're safe here. We'll help you.", said Ammoolia in her most comforting voice. Her voice really was very comforting when a true and honest need was there. At such times, she spoke directly from the hearts of the Elements of Mū that nurture and guide all beings and all phenomena in all of the known universe. It was a very special tuning.
"Why don't you have a cup of herbal tea first. I brewed a nice potful earlier today, expecting your arrival. These are wild herbs from my backyard. The main ingredient is Mūyahasca. It will help you clear all of your confusion and hallucinations. It's a tonic that will allow you to settle your mind into comfort and pay attention to things that truly matter in life. It's only a part of the solution though, the rest of the solution is on the many stations of your upcoming journey. Bits and pieces found in the many nooks and corners of Mooland."
"Huh what? I'm already tripping balls here. Are you saying I'm supposed to head out for a journey as well?"
"Yes my dear child. There is much for you to learn at Mooland — and in time you may yet find your way back home. Wherever that your home may be, that I know not, but when your heart settles into its true nature, that is usually what we like to call home. My darling grand-daughter Izabella and her friend Mandalika, please just call them Izzy and Manny, have traveled across all of the realms of Mooland. They're actually quite well-known these days, their now published compendium of best stories from all the realms has been getting lots of attention. They can show you around and guide you on your journey. They have many friends, old and new, on the road ahead."
"Alright? Okay then. When do we leave. I need to figure this out. I'm ready."
"All in good time, my child. First you must rest and regain your strength. It is not night yet, but I'm certain that a nice little afternoon nap in my backyard hut will help you regain some of your wits and look at all of this with a fresh and calm pair of eyes."
Ammoolia had already set up a comfortable bunk for Nick in a peaceful little shed on her backyard. Nick was clearly a bit groggy. He had no idea when he had last slept. In fact, he had no idea if he had ever slept before. His memories as Nick start from the crash site, with some rather turbulent visions in the very beginning, and the rest clouded by a minor concussion suffered on impact. It must be that the Fortunes of Mū were paving and padding his descent, for a crash like that could have ended up very badly.
Izzy and Manny showed Nick the way to the shed and left Ammoolia's pot of mind-healing herbal tonic on the bedside table. In no time at all, Nick the hooman was fast asleep and making a most funny sound. It's like the sound you hear when a Heatlands carpenter is cutting timber to size, and it's puzzling that such a sound should come out from someone's mouth, and for what possible reason. They made their exit and rushed back to Ammoolia with hopes of a bit more insight into what exactly was going on here.
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"Ammy, is that an alien from the outer space? Whatever is a hooman?", asked Manny. She was most curious with anything totally new and unheard of and, after seeing all of Mooland and many other planets, there wasn't much that managed to still surprise her.
"Nick is indeed from the outer space, darling. He may be related to the Moonkeys that thrive on a moon orbiting the Deep Purple planet near the outer rim. But he seems to be a very intelligent lifeform, meant for more than eating and mating around like the wild Moonkeys on that moon. I've seen paintings of them at the Essence Islands main library. A friend of mine has actually been on an expedition to the Deep Purple planet. She says it has a vibe much like the Deeplands, similar tunes and flavors she says. I should like to visit there one day."
"And you said we should take Nick the hooman for an adventure across the realms?"
"Yes Manny, it would be lovely if you could do that. No need to turn it into a drawn-out expedition. A direct route to the core essences that are relevant for Nick the hooman will be plenty at this point. I will set you up with a Moongoose so you don't have travel on foot across all the realms. I doubt that he'd have the stamina or the patience for that. There are times when the journey itself, in all of its paces and phases, is the main thing. And there are times when you need to put some critical essence together to get things fixed and sorted. Nick looks like he needs just that. It may be that in the future, you'll share a longer adventure together."
"I'm sure we can do that. We're not particularly busy right now. Right Izzy?" — "I'm always ready for helping people in need, you know that Manny. Even weird and confused aliens that give me the odd vibes, these vibes that I can't quite relate to just yet. I'm sure I'll get there. He seems like a nice hooman being with a sincere heart under all of his confusion and grogginess."
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An afternoon nap turned into a peaceful night's slumber, as our alien hooman wandered to the yonder shore of the land of dreams and back again. "Moodeli-doo-dei-kooook!", bellowed the backyard Mooster, and Nick was suddenly back in his senses. He wasn't totally convinced of his senses, but did put on a reasonably coherent appearance as he opened the door and met the first rays of the Sun peeking through the thick branches of a Mamarind tree in Ammoolia's enchanting orchard. "Hello! Hello? Good moorning?"
Meanwhile, Izzy and Manny had been back to the Peaklands to drop off the medicinal herbs to Manny's uncle, and returned to stay the night. It would be good if Nick saw some familiar faces after the rattling and shocking experiences he'd been through, landing in what to him was a very odd and alien reality indeed. All places are strange and everyone is an alien until we tune in. In time, the world will be full of friends. Sure, some of them will be rather strange, but no longer feel alien. We learn to relate and begin to understand.
"Good mooorning brother Nick!", Izzy and Manny responded as they walked in hasty steps toward the backyard cabin. "Did you sleep well? Are you well rested? There's breakfast at the pavillion if you're hungry!" Nick was often hungry. He was still adjusting to his newly crystallized human form and felt the need for the building blocks of life rather acutely. "I'm okay! And yes I'm also hungry! How long was I asleep?" — "It's only the next morning, Nick. Let's go and get your hooman belly filled."
Another one of Ammoolia's epic breakfast buffets was on the morning menu. She had prepared a range of different sorts of dishes, with really very little idea of what hoomans are used to eating. That information wasn't available to her from the clouds. "That's an epic buffet! Wow! I have no idea what all of this is, but I'll try a bit of everything!". He ended up trying quite a lot of everything, to a point where Izzy and Manny were wondering if there will be some crumbs left for them or not. Ammoolia was pleased to see him eating with such gusto. If he can enjoy the many dishes of Mooland, he'll surely find a way to enjoy the rest of what the realms have to offer.
"So what do you do here for fun?", Nick asked, striking a casual conversation. He remembered well the previous day's discussion about the upcoming journey, but thought it better to not dive straight into the serious. "Do you surf here?" — "We have no idea what surfing means Nick, it's the first we've ever hear that word. Does that happen a lot in your hooman homeworld? How does one surf?" Nick rather enjoyed where his leisurely convo with the plumpy cow and the mantis with striking eyes was headed.
"So what you do is you grab your board and paddle out into the sea. Then you slowly paddle back toward the beach and wait for a wave to come, and then you paddle hard and let it pick you up. Then you stand up on the wave and hold your balance and swag as hard as you can." His description rang a bell in Ammoolia's extensive inner records. "Oh yes, is that what they call it in your world? The Moofin youngsters at the Central Ocean do that a lot. They call it flow-streaming there. Once in a while there's a huge wave and whoever catches it flips around on the top and in and out. They also swag hard — I believe that's the expression in hooman language. When they come crashing down and join their friends again, they often wobble their fins and say 'sick flow moofs!'. It's fun to watch."
Nick was getting enthusiastic to a point of forgetting about his many worries for a moment. "Yes that's exactly it! When can we go to that Central Ocean and catch some waves? When do you get the best swell?" — "You mean to ask, when is the ocean next bulging? I believe in a week's time, which just about lines up with the tail end of your Mooland journey. You'll be at the Deeplands at just the right time, and then you can surf as much as you please." Our hooman guest seemed very pleased with Ammoolia's gameplan.
"So do you have surf-boards here?" — "What are surf-boards, Nick? Moofins are an aquatic tribe, they do not use boards. We've never surfed, though we do like to swim when there's an opportunity. Water is such a balancing element." Nick was happy to give a quick rundown on his choice of surf-boards to Ammoolia. "And it's important that the nose of the board is curved upward just right, so you don't nosedive and hurt your nose on the reef." — "Well I'm sure we can set you up with a surfboard. I'll send a hummingbird to the Heatlands with a description, there's a skilled carpenter engineer there who will figure it out for us. Would you please draw such a board for me? I'll ask for two extra boards, in case Izzy and Manny would like to try this surfing fun with you."
It was much more of a fantastic start to Nick's stay at Mooland than the initial crash impact had suggested. At this point, even the wizards are puzzled as to how this hooman Nick seems to have memories from a previous existence as a hooman. He's just barely crystallized from a fluid elemental asteroid into his first steps as an embodied life-form, entangled in a concrete time-stream with a concrete hooman identity. The laws of physics are sometimes strange in the Inner Cookie Universe. It may be that time was running backwards for him, and that he remembered a future he was yet to live and experience. These things happen.
Ammoolia had already arranged for the Moongoose from the Cloud Platforms to carry the trio on their brief but still epic journey. Moongeese resemble celestial swans but are more plumpy and rugged — and significantly larger in size. One of them can easily carry three or more grown-up passengers and quite a bit of luggage. These are no common public transport though, there are only so many Moongeese in all of Mooland, and it's usually only the high oracles that ride with these heavenly creatures on their quests. Ammoolia handed a backpack to Nick with some clothes she had tailored along with a bunch of other necessary gear. "Alright, the three of you! Your ride is ready, and off you go! Much Moospeed — and may your journey reach the other shore in the highest of spirits!"
___NICK IS FLYING ON A MOONGOOSE WITH IZZY AND MANNY___
... TO BE CONTINUED ...